Heel-seat fitting machine



Jlme 1942- c. A. ROBINSON HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 16, 1940 Patented June 30, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .FHEEL-ISEAT FITTING MACHINE Charles A. Robinson, Salem, .Mass .assignor to 'United ShoeMachinery Corporation, FlemingtomN. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 16, 1940, Serial No.'356,942 Claims. (01. 12-315).

This invention relates-to :heeleseat fitting rmachines and is illustratedas rembodiedin animprovedchip ejectorfor use me machine of the general type disclosed :in United States Letters Patent No. 1,980,371,3-granted November 13,1934,

'below a .fiat bottom :face gof :said plate. :I-Ieel- .breast receiving shoulders .are thereafter formed 'on the sole by a pair of vertically'moving knives "and the heel-seat portion fof said side :is reduced by a :knife which travels forwardly *with its straight cutting edge in engagement with the bottom face of the plate, i sa'id knives removing 'a horseshoe-shaped chip from 'the sole to form a heel-seat tab at the "rear end of "the sole. Prepara'tory to presentinganot her shoe to the machine it is necessary to remove the horseshoeshaped chip, which has been trimmed from the previous sole, from the crease plate and, accordingly, it is common practice to provide an ejector 'for this purpose.

It is desirable to have the path of movement of the portion of the ejector which contacts the chip spaced slightly from but'arra nged in close proximity to approximately the entire extent of a beveled sole supporting surface of thecrease plate, thereby insuring that chips of different lengths and thicknesses may be effectively removed from the plate. Moreover,.it has been found that in operating upon shoes in which rubber cement, forjexample, has been interposed between the sole and the shoe upper in the vicinity of the heel-breast line, the forward-endof the chip frequently sticks .to the crease ,plate, with the resultthat the rear portion of .the chip,

especially when thin, has a tendency .toriseup 1- over the ejector and,.accordingly, is-notproperly removed from theplate. Furthermore, in order to insure that the ejector .shall not be caught under the presser memberas the operator raises and lowers the treadlewhilepositioning thershoe in the machine, it is-also desirable that the ejector mentof the treadle, which continued movement causes -a one-revolution clutch to be tripped.

It is an object of 'the "present invention to provide improved mechanism, having the advantages and none of the disadvantages above referred to, for quickly and-effectivelyremoving chips 'from the crease plates of heel-seat fitting machines.

With the aboveobject in view, and in accordance with a feature of the present invention, there is provided :a heel-seat fitting machine comprising a crease plate :havin-g-a surface-for supporting the-heel-seat portion of the sole of a shoe, means for reducing'the heel-seat portion of the sole to form a heel-seat tab, an ejector, and means for moving the ejector over thec-rease plate to remove from the plate a chip trimmed from the heel-seat portion of the-sole, saidejector comprising a bar conforming generally to the transverse curvature --of the soleengaging face of the crease plate, the 'bar having a flange which is constructed and arranged to override the rear end of the-chip :upon thecrease plate in order to insure that the bar 'shall not slide under the chip, as above described.

The illustrative ejector is pivoted at its ,upper end upon a fulcrum .pin which may be secured in different adjusted positions tothe .machine frameand is so constructedand arranged that the ejector bar, during its chip ejecting movement, will swingina path which is located adjacent to and extends along a work supporting face of the crease plate, thereby insuring that the bar shall engagethe chip andeifectively remove it from the crease plate irrespective of the thickness or the length of the chip. The ejector is normally held in its rearward position against a stop by a spring and is swung .forwardly over the crease plate, to vremove the chip therefrom,-by an actuator carried by and .piv-.- oted upon a housing which carries a presser member adapted to force the margin of the heelseat portion of the-sole against the plate. The housing is yieldingly' secured to a plunger which is movable vertically toward and away from the creaseplate and has securedto its lower end a bulger-adapted to'force the central part of the heel-seat portion of the sole through the U- shaped opening of the crease plate. In order that the ejector shall not be moved forwardly until the presser member and the \bulger have been-raised a predetermined'distanceabove the crease plate after the completion of the tab forming operation, a latch is pivoted to the actuator and, until tripped by an abutment, serves to hold the actuator in its idle position in which vertical movement of the actuator does not cause the ejector to move. The abutment, which may be set in different adjusted positions, is so positioned that it does not release the latch from its idle position until after the work has been finally positioned in the machine and a onerevolution clutch, through which the bulger and the trimming knives are operated, has been tripped. The actuator does not engage the ejector to swing the same forwardly over the crease plate, as above described, until after the presser member and the bulger have been moved substantial distances away from the sole. After the actuator has moved the ejector to the forward end of its stroke, said actuator, in turn. is swung rearwardly to its latched, idle position by the ejectoras the same moves back to its rearward position against the stop. With the above arrangement the chip trimmed from the heel-seat portion of the sole is quickly and effectively removed from the crease plate without any danger of catching the ejector beneath the presser member during the initial positioning of the work in the machine.

The various features of the invention will be understood and appreciated from the following detailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a heel-seat fitting machine, partly broken away, embodying an improved chip ejector;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of said machine as viewed in the direction indicated by arrows 11-11 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are side views, partly broken away and partly in section, of the portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1 during two progressive stages in the operation of the same;

Fig. 5 is an illustrative view showing in perspective a chip in the process of being removed from a crease plate of the machine; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the heel end portion of a shoe the heel-seat portion of the sole of which has been reduced by the above machine.

The illustrative ejector 26 is described with reference to removing from a crease plate 22 of a heel-seat fitting machine a horseshoeshaped chip 24 (Fig. 5) which has been trimmed from the heel-seat portion 26 (Fig. 3) of the attached sole 28 (Figs. 3 and 4) of a shoe 3!]. The illustrative machine, with the exception of the chip ejector 28 and mechanism for operating the same, is practically identical with the machine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,980,371, granted November 13. 1934, on an application filed in the name of Earl A. Bessom, which patent may be referred to for a complete understanding of the machine and its oper-, ation.

The shoe 3!! is presented to the machine bottom up and heel end first, the heel seat portion 26 of the attached sole overlying the crease plate 22. After the shoe has been positioned in the machine by suitable back and centralizing gages 32, 34, respectively (Fig. 1). the operator depresses a treadle (not shown). causing a rod 36 to be lowered against the action of a spring 3'! and through suitable mechanism 38 (Fig. 1) a plunger 48 (Figs. 3 and 4) to be lowered. Movable with but yieldingly mounted upon the plunger 40 is a sleeve 42 having at its lower end a housing 44- constructed and arranged to receive a horseshoe-shaped presser member 46 which,

upon downward movement of the plunger, forces the margin of the heel-seat portion 26 of the sole against a beveled face or surface 48 of the crease plate 22. The rear part of the beveled surface 48 may be described as concave widthwise. Rigidly secured to the plunger 40 is a bulger 56 (Fig. 1) which, after the margin of the heel-seat portion 26 of the sole has been clamped against the crease plate 22 by the yieldable presser member 46, as above described,

A and when a one-revolution clutch (not shown) has been tripped by further downward movement of the treadle rod 36, moves downwardly to force the central part of the positioned heel-seat portion 26 of the sole through a U-shaped opening 52 of the crease plate 22 and below a flat bottom face 54 of the plate, the bulger coming to a stop when its flat bottom face 56 is in alinement with, the flat bottom face 54 of the crease plate. After the heel-seat portion 26 of the sole 28 has been clamped and conformed as above described, shoulder forming knives '58 (Fig. 1) are moved downwardly to form heel-breast receiving shoulders 60 (Fig. 6) upon the solefand a back knife 62 (Fig. 3) movesforwardly with its straight cutting edge 63 in engagement with the bottom face 54 of the crease plate to reduce the heelseat portion 26 of the sole and in combination with the knives58 toform a'heel-seat'tab 64 onthesole.

In order quickly and effectively to dispose of the horseshoe-shaped chip 24 remaining on the crease plate 22 after the heel-seat fitting operation, there is provided the ejector20 which comprises a curved bar'66 (Figs. 1 and 5) adjustably secured by a slot-and-screwconnection 68 to the'end of an elongated lever H! fulcrumed at its upper end upon a threadedpin 12 carried by the upper end of'a bracket 14 mounted upon a large screw 16 threaded into a boss 18 of the machine frame; The bracket 14 may be initially set in its proper operating position about the screw '16 so 'as to insure that the bar 66 shall swing along the sole engaging face 48 of the crease plate 22, such adjustment being readily effected through the provision of a screw which passes through a slot 82 in the bracket 14 and is threaded into the boss 18. As will appear later, the screw 86 also serves to secure to the bracket 14 a stop 84 which limits rearward movement of the lever 18.

The fulcrum pin I2 is so'positioned that the bar, which is conformed generally to the transverse curvature of the face 48 of the crease plate 22, will at all times be in close proximity to the crease plate during its sweeping movement over the crease plate. Accordingly, the chip 24, regardless of its size, will be effectively pushed off the forward end of the crease plate during forward movement of thebar 66. As above stated, there is a tendency for the forward end of the chip 24 to stick to the crease plate 22, with the result that, unless there is some provision for preventing this action, a thin, flimsy chip will sometimes override the bar 66 as the bar swings forwardly. With the foregoing in view, the bar 66 is provided'with a flange 86 which isshaped and arranged to override the rear end of. the sole with the abutment lever 90, forms in veiitectari integral bellcrank lever SI and may be referred to as such. The ofiset flange 92 is provided with a beveled faceSB (Figs. 3 and 4) the lower end of which is at all times in contact with an actuator 98 the construction and operation of which will appear later. When the machine is at rest, the lever I is held in engagement with the stop 84 by a coil spring I00 the lower end of which embraces the screw 88 and the upper end of which is fixed to the machine frame.

The ejector 20 is operated by the actuator 98 which is mounted upon a fulcrum pin I02 secured to the housing 4 3 of thesleeve 42 and is constantly forced against the flange 92 of the abutment lever 90 by a spring I04 the lower end of which engages the housing and the upper end of which embraces the rear face of the actuator. Pivoted upon a fulcrum pin I06 carried by the actuator 98 is a latch "18 which is constantly urged downward by a spring lit, a shoulder H2 of the latch being in approximate engagement with a face II 4 of an arrester plate or retainer member I 55 carried by the plunger 40, as shown in'Fig. 2, when the machine is idle. The initial positioning of the arrester plate [I6 upon the plunger may be readily varied through the provision of a screw II8 which is threaded into the plunger and passes through an elongated slot I20 of said plate.

The ejector 20 is swung forwardly against the action of the spring I0!) by the engagement of a shoulder I22 (Figs. 2 and 3) of the actuator with the flange 92 of the lever 90, during upward movement of the plunger 40 and after the completion of the trimming operation, the actuator having previously been moved from its inoperative or idle position shown in Fig. 2 to its operative position shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In order to trip the actuator 98 so as to cause the shoulder II? of the latch I08 to be arranged above the arrester plate H6, there is provided a block I24 which is adjustably secured to the bracket I4 by a screw-and-slot connection I26 and is engaged by the latch I0t during the downward movement of the plunger 50. It is quite important that the latch I08 shall not be released until the clutch (not shown) has been tripped since the operator sometimes raises and lowers the treadle rod 36 several times in positioning the work in the machine, and if said latch were released before tripping the clutch, there would be a tendency for the bar 66 of the ejector to be caught beneath the presser member 56. Accordingly, the block I24 is so adjusted that the latch I08 is released while the bulger is forcing the central part of the heel-seat portion of the sole through the U-shaped opening, such action occurring immediately after the one-revolution clutch of the machine has been tripped.

As the plunger 40 is raised, the shoulder I22 of the actuator 98, which has been moved beneath the flange 92 of the bell-crank lever 9| by the spring I04, engages said flange 92, causing said lever to swing in a counterclockwise direction, thereby sweeping the chip 24 from the crease plate 22 and into a hopper (not shown) of a chip collector. In order to insure that the chip 24 shall not be flipped from the crease plate 22 by the ejector 20, the rate of upward movement of the plunger 40 under the action of spring 31 is reduced through the provision of a fluid check I28.

As the ejector bar 65 reaches the forward end of its stroke, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the trip screw 94, by reason of its engagementwith face I 36 of the actuator 98',- causes the lower; edge of the face $6 of the flange 92 to-run off the ledge I22 of the actuator, with the result that the ejector is permitted to swing in a clockwise direction back to its starting position, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, under the action of the spring I00, during which time the lower edge of the face 95 of the ejector 20, operating against an inclined face I32 of the actuator 98, moves said actuator in a counterclockwise direction, against the action of the spring I04, back to its latched starting position shown in Fig. 2.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, means constructed and arranged to conform the heel-seat-portion of a sole to a predetermined shape, said means comprising a crease plate having a concave work supporting surface, one or more knives for trimming a chip from the conformed heel-seat portion of the sole to form a heel-seat tab on the sole, an ejector having a work engaging portion mounted for swinging movement over and in close proximity to but spaced from said work supporting surface of the crease plate about an axis which is spaced a considerable distance from said plate and extends widthwise of the plate, mechanism for operating the ejector to remove the chip from said crease plate, and means for varying the position of the axis about which the ejector is swung lengthwise of the plate.

2. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a crease plate having a U-shaped opening, a presser member for clamping the margin of the heel-seat portion of a sole against portions of the crease plate adjacent to said opening, a movable bulger for forcing the central part of the heel-seat portion of the clamped sole through the U-shaped o ening, said presser member being yieldingly mounted for movement together with the bulger, one or more knives for trimming a chip from the conformed heel-seat portion of the sole to form a heel-seat tab on the sole, an actuator which is mounted for movement with the presser member and is constructed and arranged to operate the ejector to cause the same to remove the chip from the crease plate, a retainer member positively movable with the bulger, a latch connected to the actuator and constructed and arranged to co-operate with said retainer member to hold the actuator in a predetermined idle position in which its movement with the presser member will not effect movement of the ejector, and a fixed stop constructed and arranged to be engaged by the latch to release the same from its idle position at a predetermined time from the retainer member thereby enabling the actuator to move to an operative position in which its movement with the presser member will cause said actuator to move the ej ctor so as to remove the chip from the crease plate.

3. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a crease plate, an ejector which is mounted forswinging movement about a fixed pivot and is constructed and arranged to force a chip from said crease plate, an actuator for operating the ejector, a spring for forcing the actuator against the ejector, a latch for holding the actuator in an idle position away from its operative position in which movement of the actuator causes the ejector to be swung along the crease plate to remove the chip from the crease 7 plate, and means for releasing the latch from its idle position at a predetermined stage in the operation of the machine, to move the actuator to said'operative position, said ejector having portions constructed and arranged to move the actuator, after the chip has been removed from the crease plate, from its operative position to its-idle position thereby rendering said latch effective to maintain the actuator in said idle position.

4. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a crease plate, means for reducing the heel-seat portion of a sole of a shoe to form a heel-seat tab, an ejector mounted for movement, a stop, a spring for constantly urging the ejector toward the stop, a movable actuator constructed and arranged to operate the ejector against the action of said spring to remove from the crease plate a chip trimmed from the heelseat portion of the sole, a latch associated with the actuator, said ejector being constructed and arranged to move the actuator, after the chip has been removed from the machine, to an idle position in which movement of said actuator will not efi'ect movement of the ejector, and to render the latch effective in maintaining the actuator in said idle position, and an abutment for tripping the latch at a predetermined time to move the actuator to an operative position in which movement of the same will operate the ejector.

5. A heel-seat fitting machine having, in combination, a crease plate, means for reducing the heel-seat portion of a sole of a shoe to form a heel-seat tab, an ejector mounted for swinging movement, a stop, a spring for constantly urging the ejector toward the stop, an actuator mounted for combined translatory and swinging movement, said actuator being constructed and arranged to operate said ejector against the action of said spring to remove from the crease plate a chip trimmed from the heel-seat portion of the sole, a latch pivoted to the actuator, said ejector being constructed and arranged to swing the actuator, after the chip has been removed from the machine, to an idle position in which movement of the actuator will not efiect movement of the ejector and to render said latch effective in maintaining the actuator in said idle position, and an abutment for tripping the latch at a predetermined time to move the actuator from said idle position to an operative position in which movement of the actuator will cause the ejector to remove the chip from the crease plate.

CHARLES A. ROBINSON. 

